Rhian Mannings and Andrea Evans have been the best of friends for 13 years – but the circumstances that brought them together could not be more tragic.
Nurse Andrea was the last person to hold Rhian's one-year-old son George after he died from pneumonia.
"Leaving a hospital without your child is the most unnatural thing as a parent you will ever have to do," said Rhian.
"But leaving George in her arms made it just that little, little bit easier because you knew that somebody really did care."
After George's death, Rhian and her husband Paul returned home unable to make sense of their seismic loss.
Meanwhile Andrea continued her shift, caring for other patients.
Warning: This article contains references to suicide
Rhian and Andrea are sharing their story to shine a light on the hidden emotional toll the death of a child can have on professionals – everyone from doctors and nurses to police officers, firefighters and teachers.
George had been happily playing with his brother and sister before he fell ill very suddenly, just days after his first birthday in 2012.
He was rushed to Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Talbot Green, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and was cared for by a number of staff including Andrea.
As well as caring for George, Andrea was responsible for keeping his distraught parents informed about what was happening.
Now, 13 years on, Andrea's memories from that evening have not faded.
"I remember seeing Rhian and Paul arrive and just being completely distraught," said Andrea from Talbot Green.
"To me I wasn't doing enough, I wasn't saying enough, I wasn't explaining enough. In my own head I was panicking about ways that I could make this better, even though it was never going to be a good situation," she said.
